This October half term, after a year of unrelenting pressure from our two boys we finally surrendered and, ruining our financial plans, took a family trip to Disney in Florida. After hearing stories of mammoth queues in sweltering heat, I did go with a certain amount of trepidation, a portable fan and a kindle. In an effort to withhold a few of my dollars from Mickey Mouse, we elected to stay in a rented house outside of the Disney complex, and we were pleasantly surprised to find we had been “upgraded” to a property with a pool. On arrival, the waters looked particularly inviting to some hot and weary travelers, so as soon as I had unpacked, I did a couple of lunges and dived right in. Given it was Florida, I was expecting a warm and refreshing dip – instead, it felt like a had jumped into an ice bath! I will confess to being a bit of a wimp when it comes to swimming in cold water, and I am sure any sea swimmers out there will be rolling their eyes, however, it was certainly not what I was expecting – the only consolation being that I was certainly not hot or weary when I got out about 30 seconds later!
I then went on to read our guest guide to discover that if you wanted to heat your pool above absolute zero, you had to pay $500 for the privilege! Needless to say, I decided to use the pool as a drinks cooler and donate the money to Mickey in the form of merchandise and sustenance. Actually, other than Annelise thinking that she was going to die on the first and last rollercoaster that she went on, we all had a great time and the queues were not as bad as they had been billed. However, hidden, additional costs turned out to be a bit of a running theme for the trip and it would have been much less painful to have been able to pay for everything upfront and not have to keep taking your credit card out of your “bum-bag”!
It is along these lines that I am pleased to say, we are launching a “platinum” version of our Practice Health Plan which includes unlimited veterinary consultations for a fixed monthly cost. As well as unlimited veterinary appointments, the platinum plan includes all of the same benefits as our standard plan such as vaccinations, flea, tick and worming throughout the year, unlimited nurse appointments, annual blood and urine tests and discounts off other products and services at the practice. It compliments pet insurance well, by covering the things that insurance doesn’t. The monthly price of the platinum plan is £30 for dogs, £27.50 for cats and £19 for rabbits. Additionally, if you have more than one pet on a platinum plan, then you’ll receive a discount on each pet’s plan.
So, if you have an elderly pet, a pet on long-term medication, or would just like peace of mind that you can visit the practice as many times as you like without incurring any consultation fees, then the platinum plan may be for you! You can join online via our website or just contact us for more information.
We don’t currently offer a plan for mice, but I am working on a plan for one mouse in particular…. watch your back, Mickey!
Jonathan Underwood